The Strength of a Son: Digory's Tale
by Rhysati
Summary: '...the queen summon Kel to her...she charged her with the safety of the royal children. Shinko commanded her to raise them as her own, and when the time came, to place the crown upon Digory's head herself.' Rated PG-13 just in case. (ON HOLD)


Disclaimer: I own everything you don't recognize. Everything else belongs to Tamora Pierce (even Jindazhen).  
  
A/N: I honestly don't know where this came from. But it's been stewing in my mind for a while, and I finally decided to type it and post it. It may not get updated for a while, and not often, because I'm still working on Ruthless (and will be doing so for quite a while), and I'm not sure where I want to go from here. Tell me what you think. Flames not required, and will be deleted, but constructive criticism requested and appreciated. Enjoy! (again, apologies for the poor spacing - FF.N is being mean again.)  
The Strength of a Son: Digory's Tale  
A History Lesson  
King Jonathan died when Roald and Shinkokami had been married for 13 years, and their oldest, Chisakami (in honor of the Yamani princess Roald was first betrothed to, killed in an earthquake), was 8. Because of a low passed 800 years before stating that a woman could not reign over Tortall alone, Queen Thayet was forced to step down. As her last act as Queen and first act as Queen Mother, she crowned her son Roald and his wife, the Yamani princess Shinkokami, King and Queen of Tortall.  
  
Tortall prospered during the sadly brief reign of King Roald the Wise (and often soft-spoken, as his friends informed him) and Queen Shinkokami, the Lady of Peace and Justice. The nation completely recovered from both the Immortals War and the Scanran War. The Immortals, particularly the Stormwings (in honor of Sir Keladry of Mindelan), respected them, as they did everything in their power to ensure peace between humans and Immortals. A Stormwing named Vashti and her flock even swore loyalty to the royal couple and acted as (distant - it's somewhat difficult for even a civilized Stormwing to rid itself of its stench) bodyguards. Tortall's crop of knights more than doubled with the addition of not only noblewomen (an idea that had become fairly commonly accepted in the last years of King Jonathan's reign), but also any merchant or commoner who could afford it.  
  
The crop was healthy, the harvest bountiful. Education for children of all classes reached every corner of the prosperous kingdom, penetrating event he smallest village. Ninety-nine percent of the population was literate. Trade between Tortall and her neighbors was very successful. Those years were considered the best Tortall - indeed, the whole of the Eastern Lands - had ever experienced.  
  
But as it was stated before, their reign was brief. Roald and Shinkokami were Ruling Monarchs for only five years before Jindazhen, the sworn enemy of the Yamani Islands, declared war on Tortall for no apparent reason. To Tortall's distress, both Lord sir Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Knight Commander of the King's Own, and Sir Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, the King's Champion and known as the Lioness, had died two weeks before was declared, and the black-robe mage Numair Salmalín three years earlier.  
  
Sir Keladry of Mindelan and Masbolle, happily married to Lieutenant General Domitan of Masbolle, was Knight General of the Northern Border Defense. When war was declared, she was promptly switched to Knight Commander of the King's Own while her husband was promoted to General and given her previous position. Roald chose Sir Owen of Jesslaw as his new Champion, and move that surprised Tortall - and apparently Jindazhen as well. Shinkokami gave birth to her first - and only - son, Digory.  
  
As Roald, Shinkokami, Keladry, Domitan, Owen, Veralidaine Sarrasri, and others worked to strengthen and prepare Tortall for war, Keladry received word through Baron George Cooper of Pirate's Swoop, Roald's spymaster, that a company of nearly 100 professional Jindazhen assassins had penetrated the border. Well acquainted with the skills of even amateur Jindazhen assassins, as many had been sent against the Yamani Emperor during her stay in the islands, Keladry spoke with Roald and Owen about increasing palace security. When Owen informed her that it couldn't be increased any more than it was, Keladry pleaded with Roald to leave Corus and go someplace where the assassins wouldn't think to look until they could be dealt with. Roald, however, stubbornly refused, arguing that a king should not hide or cower in fear when his subjects face the same danger as he.  
  
Keladry knew that nothing she said would change his mind, so she instead approached Shinkokami. With Owen's support, she convinced the queen that Roald must either go peacefully or be taken by force to a safer, more secluded location. With the queen's blessing, Keladry and Owen abducted the king and took him to a 'secret' location - New Hope. Sir Faleron of King's Reach and Merric of Hollyrose were in command there, and swore they would not let Roald out of their sight (in fact, they found it amusing that Keladry and Owen had abducted him, though they understood and agreed with their reasoning - they respectfully referred to Roald as a block-headed idiot).  
  
From then on, Shinkokami led the war against Jindazhen. She made great progress, and Tortall's awe of her - and their trust - grew, though they still worried about the safety of their king. Keladry and Owen served her faithfully, and both kept her updated on Roald's situation at New Hope. Domitan was promoted to General of the Army and made one of the queen's most trusted advisors alongside his wife and Owen. George, Keladry, and Sir Cleon of Kennan rooted out and either killed or imprisoned 99 Jindazhen assassins. Shinkokami also gave birth to a third child, her daughter Marie.  
  
Roald was perfectly safe in New Hope. The refugee-camp-turned-town was secluded, far enough away from the main centers of Tortall to draw very little attention. Despite is anger with Keladry, Roald grew to like it in his impromptu prison, helping out wherever Faleron and Merric would let him. He became well rested and much less stressed, and began to consider it a somewhat ill timed but badly needed vacation from the rigors of running a kingdom and a war. However, New Hope did not go without news from the rest of Tortall. Though Roald trusted Shinkokami to take good care of his kingdom, he became overcome with a desire to return to her, and to his kingdom.  
  
Roald eventually forced Keladry to take him back to Corus two years after his forced departure. Believing him to be safe, she did so, though she did not let the security lax. He was killed on his second day back by the 100th assassin, who had managed to slip through the cracks.  
  
Though devastated by her husband's death, Queen Shinkokami continued to lead the war against Jindazhen. None of the Tortallans disputed her right to do so, even though, technically, she was supposed to step down when Roald died. It was discovered three months later that the queen was pregnant, and Sir Nealan of Queenscove, the palace healer, determined that she had conceived during her last night with Roald. She carried the child to term, and gave birth to twins six months later. In honor of the two ladies that her husband had been closest to besides her and his family, the queen named them Keladryn and Lasalan, changing the names slightly because Lalasa did not wish the extra attention a princess named after her would bring, though she was greatly honored by the suggestion, and Shinkokami knew without even asking that Keladry would prefer the same.  
  
Queen Shinkokami came as close as was possible to winning the war without actually doing so. She had the Jindazhens routed every way, and was preparing for the final push that would bring the island nation to its knees. But then, three months after the twins were born, shortly before the order to launch would be given, the queen summoned Keladry to her. To the lady knight's shock, she charged her with the safety of the royal children. Shinkokami commanded her to care for and raise them as her own, and take them to the Yamani Islands, where they would be safe. She was to give them into her cousin the Emperor Eitaro's care when the twins were two, and then watch them from afar until Keladry deemed it the right time to take them back and return them to Tortall. When that time came, Keladry herself was to place the royal crown of Tortall upon Digory's head.  
  
Terrified at her queen's defeatist attitude, Keladry begged for an explanation. Why should she crown Digory? Why would she need to in the first place? Would not Shinkokami desire that honor? It had been declared that only a member of the royal family could crown the successor to the throne shortly after King Jonathan's coronation. As all of Roald's siblings had been killed during the war as they either fought to defend Tortall, or were ambushed as they traveled to safer locations. Would not Shinkokami wish to watch her children grow into beautiful and honorable princesses and prince? Why did she think they would not be safe in Tortall, with victory so near?  
  
Though the queen could have easily taken offense at Keladry's persistent questions, she knew and understood her confusion. She forgave Keladry her insubordination, and gently reminded her of her duty to obey the crown. Chastised, yet still confused, the knight warily to the charge upon herself. Relieved, Shinkokami told her that a ship had been prepared and was waiting for her in Port Caynn. She would be accompanied by her husband Domitan, the Queen Mother Thayet, the lady-in-waiting Yukimi noh Daiomoru, and Buriram Tourakom.  
Two days later, hardly seven hours after Keladry's ship had left Port Caynn, the queen was found dead, having apparently died in her sleep.  
  
Within a month, as Tortall mourned the death of their last Ruling Monarch and cast out desperately for someone to lead them, wondering all the while where the Queen Mother, the royal children, and the General of the Army had disappeared to, Jindazhen conquered the grieving and confused nation. They had recovered swiftly from the queen's campaign against them, and came at Tortall without warning. They seized Port Caynn quickly and overran Corus before the defeated nation had any chance to prepare. Corus was not aware of its pending doom before it came over the horizon. Many of Keladry's friends and colleagues were killed in Corus's Last Stand, including the King's Champion, Sir Owen of Jesslaw, and the palace healer, Sir Nealan of Queenscove. Within three months after that, Tortall had been completely overtaken.  
  
With Tortall theirs, the Jindazhens turned to slowly wiping out the Old Tortallans - Tortallans who had lived during Jonathan and later Roald and Shinkokami's reigns, nearly succeeding in doing so completely. Many, however, managed to flee their homeland and take refuge in Tyra, Sarain, Galla, Scanra, Carthak, Tusaine, and the Yamani Islands, where they waited for the day when Tortall would be returned to them.  
  
Keladry remained in the Yamani Islands with the royal children and her companions. When the twins turned two, as Shinkokami had requested, Keladry gave them over to the Emperor Eitaro and had him raise them in his household. When thy were safely settled in, the Tortallan company retreated to the background and watched over them from afar, waiting for the day Keladry felt it was time.  
  
Because the war was lead almost solely by Queen Shinkokami, it became known as the Queen's War, or Shinkokami's War. 


End file.
